"316L and Concentrated sulfuric acid"

Question:

"One of our customers detected pinholes in their concentrated sulfuric acid (98%)tank which is constructed of 316L. And this was only after a few months of service! The pinholes were localized and located at the sidewall close to the weld between the side wall and the bottom plate. What could have been the main cause(s) of these pinholes?"

Answer:

Hard to tell without having observed the corrosion; however, two possibilities might be iron contamination during fabrication or non-metallic inclusions in the 316SS.

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